The Not-So-Great Outdoors
by Liberty Hoffman
Summary: Shawn is trying to solve a case but ends up in over his head - in more ways than one. better than it sounds! SHAWN WHUMP and minor Gus whump in later chapters!
1. Sinking

"Shawn, this was a bad idea, coming all the way out here."

I sighed. "Gus, don't be a bruised banana. We've only been walking for five minutes."

Gus glared at me. "But we haven't had lunch yet. You know how much I hate walking on an empty stomach."

I snorted. "C'mon, Gus, just think about all the excercise we're getting! It's good for you! Besides, JUst think how cool the big reveal is gonna be out here. These woods look like they're straight out of Lothlorien! I get to be Frodo!"

"I'll be Legolas. I've always wanted to use a longbow," Gus said.

I stopped suddenly, sniffing the air. "What's that smell?"

Gus inhaled sharply through his nose. "Smells kind of like...a swamp."

I stared at him. "A swamp? Really, Gus? How would there be a swamp out here in the woods?"

I strode forward a few steps - and immediately froze.

"Gus..."

I heard Gus gasp behind me.

"Shawn! Shawn, don't move!" He yelled.

I looked down slowly. My feet were slowly sinking into what looked like quicksand. The cold, stinky stuff was already well over my ankles.

"Shawn, just hang on, I'm gonna get you out of there!" I heard Gus yell.

I stood there, trying not to panick as I sank up to my knees. I wanted to thrash and kick, but I knew that I would only sink faster.

"Gus!" I yelled, my voice shaky with panic.

"Shawn, grab hold!"

I craned my neck around and saw Gus reaching out over the mud with a long tree branch. I wanted to grab it, but my position presented a small problem. Since my back was to Gus, the only way I was going to be able to grab hold was to tip backward. The muck was to my waist now and I knew I didn't have much time.

Taking a deep breath, I leaned back, almost as if I were trying to lay down, gasping a little as I sank up to my chest. Turning slowly onto my side, I looked up. Gus was leaning as far as he dared, branch extended toward me.

"Grab it!" Gus shouted, fear evident in his voice.

I lunged for the end of the branch and my fingertips brushed against it, but I missed and sank up to my shoulders. The mud pressed against my chest, making it hard to breath. I was gasping now, and fear had begun to consume me.

"Try again!"

It was Gus who had spoken, but suddenly I could hear my father's voice in my head.

_Focus, Shawn. Focus._

I gathered the deepest breath I could manage and reached for the branch again. The mud was up to my chin now and I knew that if I didn't grab hold now it would be too late. My groping hand found the end of the branch and my fingers grasped it. I hung on for dear life, holding my breath as the mud closed over my mouth and nose. For a second, I remained unmoving, almost completely submerged in the mud. But then I felt a tug on the branch and I began to rise. Just when I thought I couldn't hold my breath any longer, my head and shoulders broke the surface of the mud. I tried to gasp for air but only inhaled a mouthful of sludge. Coughing and spitting, I tipped my head back and sucked in a deep lungful of air, then began choking as more mud found it's way down my throat. My fingers were starting to slip and I squeezed the branch tighter, but I was getting tired.

"Almost there!" Gus grunted from somewhere above me. "Shawn, give me your hand!"

I couldn't see anything due to my eyes being shut against the mud caked on my face. I shook my head in an effort to get some of it off and managed to pry my eyelids open. I could see the blurry form of Gus above me, hand reaching out. With enormous effort, I wrenched my hand out of the mud and grabbed for Gus' hand. His fingers grasped my wrist and held fast. I let go of the branch and used my free hand to try to pull myself out of the mud. Gus grunted and panted as he strained to yank me free.

Finally, he got his hands under my arms and dragged me out of the mud, pulling me high up onto solid ground. I collapsed on my hands and knees, coughing mud out of my lungs and wheezing in little gasps of air.

"Shawn, are you okay? Talk to me!"

Gus helped me sit up as I fought to slow my breathing.

"T-That was too c-close," I gasped, staring at my bare feet. My shoes and socks were long gone, having been pulled off in the mud. I was grateful that my pants hadn't joined them.

"You know that's right," Gus said, patting my shoulder.

We sat in silence for a moment. As the adrenaline began to wear off, I began to shake, partly from the cold mud covering my body, and partly from shock.

"C'mon," Gus said. "Let's get you back to the Blueberry."

"Not so fast."

I flinched as the barrel of a pistol was suddenly right in my feild of vision.

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what do ya'll think? should I continue? I am thinking of maybe doing a bit of a flashback to explain the case they are working on so that the next part makes more sense - think I should do it? please let me know!


	2. Trouble

I raised my head to see who was standing above us. And gasped. The man was tall with dark hair flecked slightly with gray and his skin was pale, like he'd never been in the sun.

My eidetic memory kicked in and in my mind's eye I began to go over all of the people we'd tracked down over the years. The mental images stopped when I remembered Chief Vick's briefing from the day before. The department had been shown video footage from a camera in a gas station. The blurry image showed a man with dark hair and pale skin wearing a ski mask and a black sweatshirt robbing the place at gun-point. The instant the Chief had mentioned his name - Robert Goodard - I realized that I had put his brother behind bars the year before. Both Goodard and his brother had been wanted in Santa Barbara for years.

I tried to remian calm, tried to pretend that a pistol wasn't 3 inches from my nose.

"Goodard," I said, my voice raspy from coughing. "Funny meeting you all the way out here. I was just on my way to find your secret hideout."

"Shut up, Psychic," Goodard said coldly. "I've been looking for you for months. Putting my brother in jail through a serious wrench in my plans. You have no idea what I am up to and you never will because I am going to kill you."

I took a shaky breath. "Look, dude, you said it. I have no idea what you are up to. So why don't you let Gus and I go and ou go back to whatever your doing."

"I don't think so. Get up."

Goodard gestured with his pistol, and I reluctantly started to stand. Gus grabbed my arm when I stumbled, a concerned look on his face.

"Move," Goodard demanded, pointing his gun at our backs and forcing us to walk.

I was painfully aware of my bare feet as we stumbled forward into the trees. I was still lightheaded from my close call in the quicksand and I would have fallen again, but Gus grabbed my arm and held me up as we went farther into the dark trees. The sun was going down and I suddeny realized that nobody knew where we were.


	3. In A Cabin In A Wood

We walked through the woods for what felt like hours. Goodard said nothing and neither did we, though I wanted to say something to break the silence. But what would I say? Gus and I were probably walking to our doom. My feet hurt from stepping on rocks and twigs and Gus' grip on my arm was the only reason I hadn't fallen. Finally, I couldn't take the silence or the tension of not knowing what was going to happen.

"So Robert - can I call you Robert?" I said, my voice shaky.

Goodard jabbed my back with his pistol. "Shut up and keep walking. We're almost there."

I stumbled, but Gus pulled me upright, flashing me a scared look.

"Look, dude," I continued, "I know your still mad about your brother going to prison and all, but the past is the past. Why don't we turn around and take the Blueberry to Jamba Juice for some smoothies and we can talk abot this like rational men?"

"My brother's incarceration is only one of the reasons I tracked you down. You ruined my whole operation. I had thousands of dollars worth of meth in that lab, ready to ship. Do you know how long it took me to get that far without being caught? You ruined everything!"

As Goodard was talking, we came to a small clearing. Just up ahead was a small wooden cabin that looked like it would collapse any minute. Goodard forced us forward, shoving open the door and pushing us inside. We fell on the dirt floor in a heap and I heard the rickety door slam shut. I saw a chain pass through a metal loop and a lock clicked.

"I'll be back, psychic," Goodard said through the door. "And when I return, you both are going to die."

I heard his footsteps as he walked away back through the woods.

"Shawn, are you okay?" Gus asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but then I saw my feet. They were scraped and bleeding, and they hurt like crazy. I pulled back the muddy hems of my jeans to get a closer look. Gus made a little moaning sound, letting me know that he'd seen my feet too.

I took a deep breath and leaned against the door, trying to stay calm. "It's nothing, just a few scrapes," I muttered. I looked over at Gus and saw him take off his shirt, remove his undershirt, and put his shirt back on.

"Here," He said, handing me the undershirt and looking me in the eyes to avoid seeing my bleeding feet. "We can use this to wrap up your feet."

I smiled a little. "Thanks, Buddy."

Gus quickly tore the shirt into smaller pieces and handed them to me. I began the painful task of covering the cuts and scrapes as best I could, gritting my teeth against the pain. When I finished, I leaned back against the door.

"All set?" Gus asked, sitting next to me.

"Yeah." I turned to look at him. "I'm sorry I got you into this mess. It's my fault, okay?"

Gus shook his head. "It's not your fault, okay? I mean, sure we were tracking down a murderer and a thief with no backup, but I didn't think we'd actually find him."

"No one knows we're out here," I said softly, picturing Jules and missing her.

"Yeah," Gus said sadly.

I leaned forward. "Gus, we've gotta get out of here. Now. Before Goodard gets back."

"I agree, but what about your feet?" Gus helped me stand and I began inspecting the door.

"They hurt, but that's the least of our problems," I said, shoving my shoulder into the door. It rattled, but stayed put. "Help me here, Gus!"

Gus stood beside me and I counted to three. On three, we both slammed our shoulders into the door. It creaked and I looked down. The door was coming away from the doorjam at the bottom. Gus grinned at me and we readied ourselves to shove again. After 3 more times, the whole bottom of the door had popped away from the door frame, leaving a gap just big enough to squeaze through. At least, I hoped it was big enough.

"Alright!" I cheered tiredly, holding out my fist to Gus.

"We are _so_ out of here!" Gus said, bumping my fist with his own.

I dropped down onto the floor and began to crawl through the opening. It was tight and I began to feel claustorphobic as the sides of the splintery door frame dug into me. But Gus pushed me from behind and I finally squeazed through.

"Okay, your turn, Gus!" I said.

Gus began to claw his way out and when he was half-way, I grabbed his hands and yanked him the rest of the way. Panting, we sat for a moment, looking around.

"Okay, Shawn, now what?"

I looked down at my feet. Blood was already starting to come through the make-shift bandages.

"Let's get out of here and find a main road. We're not safe from Goodard until we find other people," I said. "We'd better get moving. That jerk could be back any minute and we'd better be history before then."


	4. In the Rain

here's a quick update! short, I know, but there shall be more soon! thank you all for following my story and thank you for all the kind words!  
enjoy! more whump to come in the next chapter!

enjoy!

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We'd only been walking for about five minutes when it began to rain. As if the day couldn't get any worse. We were drenched in seconds and soon the hard dirt beneath our feet turned into thick mud. We trudged along in silence, and I tried to ignore how much my feet were hurting - and the fact that we had almost no daylight left.

I sidestepped to avoid a rock that was in my way and my left foot slipped in the mud, making me fall. I let out a yelp of pain as I landed hard on my butt.

"Shawn!" Gus dropped to his knees beside me. "You okay?"

"I don't know," I moaned, rubbing my lower back and wincing. I looked at my feet, but it was impossible to see anything through all the mud caked on them. They stung like crazy though.

"Let's take a break for a second," Gus said.

I shook my head. "No, we've got to keep moving."

"How are your feet doing?"

I gritted my teeth and began to stand up. "I'll live," I said grimly.

Gus helped me the rest of the way and I gripped his arm as we made our way through the trees again. For the next hour we slogged through the mud, leaning on each other for support and not speaking. The rain refused to let up. If anything, it fell harder. I'd never been so miserable in my whole life.


	5. Ouch

I am soooo sorry about the wait for this chapter! Pleas don't hate me!  
Here's is the promised whump! enjoy!

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We were still walking an hour later with no sign of a road of any sort. The light was nearly gone as the sun set lower and lower in the sky and I nearly walked into several trees.

"Think anyone's looking for us, Gus?" I whispered.

"Hopefully," Gus panted, steadying himself on a tree trunk.

I took another weary step, opening my mouth to respond. But I never spoke because the instant my aching, bleeding foot came down, the ground seemed to vanish beneath me and I was suddenly falling, rolling head over heels down the rocky, muddy slope. I wanted to scream, but my open mouth remained in a silent scream as my body bashed against what felt like every rock and stree stump and tree limb on that hill.

And then my fall ended abruptly as I landed hard on my stomach and all the air was knocked from my lungs. I panicked when I couldn't breathe and rolled over onto my back, twitching and gasping like a fish out of water. After a few minutes, I finally managed to get some air in my lungs and I began coughing. Everything hurt. I felt like I'd been hit by a truck and then stepped on by an elephant. I didn't want to move ever again.

"Shawn!"

Gus.

I wanted to call out to him, but I could barely breathe. I opened my eyes and got my first look at where I was. The hill I had tumbled down from rose high above me and I could see Gus scrambling down toward me, rocks and dirt loosening under his feet.

"Shawn!"

I raised my left hand to wave at him, but cried out in pain when I moved it. Wincing, I pressed it to my chest, willing the pain to stop.

"Shawn, talk to me!" Gus was suddenly right there, kneeling beside me, lifting my head onto his lap.

"Gus, I think I broke my wrist," I gasped, my teeth clenched together against the pain.

Gus pulled me higher so I was leaning against his chest. I found that I could breathe a little easier.

"Okay, okay, don't panic," He said hurriedly, groping around on the ground for something. "Shawn, I'm just going to lean you against this tree, okay?"

Gus slipped out from behind me and I slumped against the rough bark of a tree. Gus kneeled in front of me and I saw that he was holding his belt and a couple of small branches in his hands. I set my teeth as he pressed the sticks on either side of my wrist and secured them with the end of the belt.

"Almost done," Gus said, draping the rest of the belt around my neck and tying it to my wrist. "Not the best but it'll have to do until we get to a hospital."

"Gus?" I said, staring at him in wonder. "You're awesome."

Gus smiled tiredly. "Thanks."

I grabbed his arm with my good hand. "No, seriously. Thanks. You keep saving my life. I owe you."

Gus smiled again, patting my arm and then callapsing against the tree trunk beside me.

"We're almost out of light," Gus said after a few minutes of silence.

"Yeah." I said, and suddenly all I wanted to do was sleep. I just wanted to shut my eyes and forget all the pain and wake up and find out it was all a dream. I let my tired eyelids close and everything went black.


	6. I'm alive - sort of

I know this is another short chapter, but I promise that I will bring more awesomeness in the nest one :)

for now, here's this chapter! enjoy!

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A sharp pain snapped me awake and I yelped, my eyes flying open. Sunlight was streaming through the trees and the rain had finally stopped. I tried to move my arms but cried out in pain as my broken wrist jerked against the makeshift sling.

"Gus?" I whispered, my memory of the last 24 hours returning. "Gus!"

"Shawn?"

I relaxed a little when I felt a hand touch my arm.

"I'm right here, Buddy," Gus said. "How do you feel?"

I let out a raspy laugh. "Like roadkill."

Gus laughed with me. "Me too."

I turned my head so I could see Gus, wincing at the pain that movement brought. Gus was damp and covered in mud and there were scrapes and cuts all over his face and arms. Like me, he was shivereing a little in the cool morning air.

"Think anybody's looking for us?" Gus turned to look at me.

I leaned my head back against the rough bark of the tree. "I bet Juliet's wondering why I never came hom last night. And Lassie's gonna know that something's up when we don't turn up at the station."

Gus nodded. "Wern't you supposed to help your dad clean out his garage today?"

"Yeah," I said, smirking. "He'll be ticked off. But maybe he'll try to hunt me down. Normally, I'd hate that, but right now I could use it."

We were silent for a few minutes after that. I could hear birds singing and leaves rustling on their branches in the cool morning breeze and cars speading along the highway...

I sat up straight - and immediately regretted it when pain shot through almost every part of me.

"Shawn, you okay?" Gus turned sharply to look at me.

"Gus, we're right next to the highway!" I said. "I can hear it!"

Gus paused, listening.

"Hey, you're right!" He said after a moment. "If we can flag down a car, we'll be rescued!"

"Come on, let's go," I whispered, gritting my teeth as I struggled to push myself to my feet. Gus helped me up and we leaned on each other for support.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Gus asked.

"Can you?"

Gus nodded, but I knew we were both just faking it.

I took a deep breath, listened for a moment, then pointed with my good hand. "That way."

Without another word, we began hobbling toward the sounds of the highway. Every step was agony and I wasn't sure what part of me hurt worse.


	7. We Are The Lost Then Found

So sorry for the long wait for this chapter! I know you have all been eager for more! thanks for all the comments! I'm glad you all like this story so much! 

Enjoy!

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I could see it, sort of. There was a little slope and above that, light broke through th remaning trees and the sounds of cars racing past from both directions reached our ears.

"We're almost there," I gasped, giving Gus a half smile.

Gus nodded, panting. He took another weary step, dragging me with him.

In reality, the slope wasn't really very steep, but in my exausted state, it may as well have been a mountain. We kept going, fueled only by the knowledge that help was not too far away. My head ached and my mouth was as dry as sawdust. It was starting to hurt to breathe, and I felt like I was going to faint. I could hear Gus grunting and gasping beside me and we were both hunched over in an effort to keep our balance.

Finally, we reached the top. Gus' hand caught hold of the gaurdrail and we hauled ourselves up against it. Gus climbed over the rusted metal and helped me do the same. The instant I was on the cement, my knees gave out and I sank to the ground. Gus was already waving and yelling at the passing cars. I waved my good arm, wincing at the pain the movement caused.

A car suddenly pulled out of the fast paced traffic and parked just ahead of us. Gus stopped waving and we stared as Juliet and Lassie climbed out and ran toward us. I couldn't believe it. What were the odds that they would be going by just as we came onto the highway?

But just as I was sagging in relief, I heard a yelp behind me. I turned and gaped. Robert Goodard stood behind my best friend, his arm around Gus' kneck and a gun pointed at his head.

"Don't come any closer or I shoot him!" Goodard yelled at the quickly appraoching detectives.

JUliet and Lassie stopped, but I saw that they both had their guns out, pointed at Goodard.

"SBPD! Drop your gun and put your hands in the air!" Lassie declared, glaring.

I lay there on the cement, staring up at Gus. He was terrified, wheezing as Goodard's arm tightend around his kneck. Goodard seemed to have forgotten I was there, but maybe he was just assuming I wasn't going to go far. I looked over at Juliet and locked eyes with her. She must have read my mind because her eyes widened and she gave a slight shake of her head.

But I knew I had no choice. I couldn't let this guy shoot Gus. Not on my watch. I rolled onto my right side and dragged myself up behind Goodard, biting my lip to keep from crying out in pain. carefully, I lay on my back and swivled my legs out in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I reared back both legs and kicked Goodard in the beck of his knees. Everything after that was sort of a blur. I saw Goodard crumple forward, and Gus fell too. I realised that his head was about to hit the cement and I rolled quickly, toward him. His head and torso landed on me and I cried out in pain.

"Stay down!" I heard Lassie yell.

Gus rolled off of me, gasping for air. I tried to say something to him but I couldn't seem to slow my own breathing.

"Shawn!"

Juliet was suddenly right there, kneeling beside us. "Gus, Shawn, are you okay?"

I shook my head, still panting.

Juliet looked down at me and gasped.

"Carlton! Call an ambulance!" She cried.

I couldn't see Gus and suddenly I panicked. "Gus w-where's Gus?" I slurred, trying to sit up. I felt a hand on my arm and Gus' face was suddenly above me.

"I'm right here, Buddy," He said, and I relaxed a little.

I could hear Juliet and Gus talking, but I couldn't seem to focus on what they were saying. Pain was pulsing through every part of me, drowning out any other thought. I vaughly heard a siren wailing.

"Shawn?" I felt a gentle hand on my cheek. Jules.

Suddenly, voices surrounded me on all sides and hands were poking at me and it hurt. I tried to pull away, but they stayed and then I was lifted and layed on something. My mind was foggy and I started to panic.

"Gus!" I cried, my good hand groping out. I opened my eyes, but everything was blurry. Something was pressed onto my face and at the same time I felt a sharp pain in my wrist. Then everything went black.


	8. Coming Awake

so so sorry this took so long but here it is!

enjoy!

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I woke up again when as the EMTs were wheeling me into the ER. Eveything was moving so fast and the edges of my vision were dark, making it seem like I was looking through a telescope. Voices echoed all around me and faces looked down at me. I didn't reconise any of them and suddenly I was scared. Gus. Where was Gus?

I tried to sit up, but hands pressed me back down. I felt myself fading again and tried to fight it, but I was too exhausted, too spent. I gave up, letting the darkness consume me.

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Someone was holding my hand. I could feel it rather than see it, and as I came slowly awake, all of my attention became focused on that other hand. It was too small for Juliet, and too worn for Gus...

My eyes slowly opened, and I let out a little moan when the light invaded them. I blinked rapidly, taking in my surroundings - bare white walls, bare white ceiling. I was laying in a bed, my left arm in a sling draped over my chest.

"Shawn? Oh, thank God your awake."

I turned my head slowly and saw Dad sitting in a chair beside the bed. He was the one holding my hand and he looked tired. Beside him in another chair, Gus was slumped in an uncomfortable looking position, sleeping. There were bandages on parts of his hands and arms and head and he was wearing ugly green scrubs.

"What - " I began, but ended up coughing. My throat was terribly dry and rough and I tried to swallow, but discovered that I couldn't.

"Here."

Dad let go of my hand and reached for something beside the bed. Something touched my lips and I opened my mouth as I felt something cold. Ice. I swallowed then, washing away the dryness.

"Better?" Dad said, hovering over me a little bit.

I nodded.

"What happened?" I whispered.

Dad sighed, leaning back in his chair. "What was the last thing you remember?"

I looked down at my feet. They were heavily bandaged and I saw bandages on my arms and hands as well. And then everything came back to me with sudden clarity. The quicksand, Goodard capturing us, the long walk, the cabin, my bleeding feet. More walking. The tumble down the hill. The showdown on the highway. "I passed out. On the highway," I whispered.

"Yeah. Juliet told me," Dad said, rubbing his eyes. "It was dumb luck that she and Lassiter happened to be going along that stretch of road right then. But they had seen Gus' car parked about 5 miles from there an they figured something was up after you didn't anwer your phone."

"So no one knew we were missing until then?" I asked.

Dad smirked. "I wasn't surprised when you didn't show up yesterday to clean my garage." His smiled faded. "But when Juliet called about finding Gus' car and not being able to get ahold of you, I, sort of, you know, got worried."

I glanced back at Gus, who was still sleeping. "Why am I the only one in a hospital bed? What about Gus?"

Dad sighed again. "When they brought you both in, you were in much more critical condition. Gus only really got bumps and bruises. But you...well, Gus told me all that happened. You both were a bit dehydrated, but they found mud in your lungs and that complicated things. You also fractured a few ribs and there was the broken wrist and the soles of your feet are shredded up pretty badly and your right one had a large pebble stuck in it, which they removed."

I lay there silently for a moment, trying to digest this information. I had a million questions, but before I could speak, Gus stirred and rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

"Shawn!" He cried, stumbling over to the side of the bed.

"Hey Buddy," I whispered. "Are you okay?"

Gus nodded. "Just a few scrapes," He said, feeling one of the larger bandages on his head. "I was worried about you when you passed out and all."

I shut my eyes for a second, thinking. "How long have I been asleep?"

"Since yesterday when they brought you in," Dad said quietly.

"Really?" I said sleepily. "Then why am I still so tired?"

"You had a crazy last couple of days, kid. Go ahead, sleep. You look exhausted."

I nodded and leaned back into the pillows. I meant to say something more, but the pull of unconsciousness was too strong. I let it take me and I was asleep in no time.

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more coming soon! stay tuned!


	9. Fin: The End, Not A Flipper On A Dolphin

_so sorry for the long wait - but here it is! the final chapter!_

_enjoy!_

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When I woke again, it was morning and Gus was sitting beside my bed, slumped in a hard plastic chair, looking bored.

"Hey, Buddy," I whispered.

Gus leaned forward. "Hey yourself," He said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

I took a deep breath, wincing as pain ran through my ribs. "I've been better. But I'll live thanks to you."

I noticed that Gus, even though he was smiling, was avoiding looking me in the eye.

"Gus?"

Gus raised his head a bit, still avoiding eye contact. "Yeah?"

I sighed. "What's wrong?"

Gus was silent for a moment. Then he looked up, finally meeting my gaze.

"I-it sort of just hit me, just now," He began, looking at the floor again. "We almost died. We could have died Normally, when we're in those situations, I think about it the whole time and you laugh at me for panicking and everything turns out alright. But I didn't think, I just sort of did it, you know?"

I stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Gus, you were so brave," I said, feeling a lump in my throat. "Seriously. I wouldn't have made it without you."

I held out a limp fist. But Gus stood instead and hugged me gently but firmly. I hugged him right back and patted him on the back when he started to cry a little.

Movement from the doorway caught my eye and I saw Juliet and Lassie walking in with my dad right behind them.

Gus heard them and back quickly out of the hug, wiping at his eyes and sitting back in the chair.

"Jules! Lassie!" I smiled a little, but my voice sounded funny since I was currently trying to swallow the lump that was still in my throat.

"Shawn, how are you feeling?" Juliet asked, coming over to the side of the bed.

I gave a small half-shrug. "I'm hanging in there," I said.

Juliet gave my hand a gentle squeaze. "I'm so glad your okay."

"Guster, are you okay?"

I turned my head and saw Lassie walking closer to where Gus was sitting. Gus was still crying and trying unsuccesfully to hide it.

"I-I'm okay," Gus said, but one look at him told me otherwise.

"Gus, come here, Buddy," I said, suddenly feeling tired again.

Gus came closer, blinking hard. I knew he needed assurance that it was all going to be okay. I could almost see what was going on in his mind - he'd managed to forget everything around him because I had been in danger. And now he was going into shock because it had all come crashing down on him.

I reached out my hand and he took it. "Gus, it's okay. You did great, Buddy. You saved my life."

Gus took a deep breath, nodding. "Thanks, Shawn," He said quietly. "You saved mine too."

Lassie cleared his throat ans I looked up in time to see him roll his eyes. But there was a playful smile on his lips and Gus laughed a little and I did too.

"By the way, O'Hara and I have news for you. After we brought Goodard in, we grilled him, trying to find out what he was hiding. We got nowhere with it until Gus told us about the cabin you two were locked in."

"We searched that cabin and found millions of dollars worth of weed and crack that Goodard was going to sell on the black market," Juliet said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow, who knew, right?"

I looked at Gus, who already looked a little less upset. I gave him a little nod and he gave me one right back. He was okay. I was okay.

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**THE END**

I hope you liked the ending - I had a hard time trying to end it.

thank you all for all of the epic reviews! I am so glad for your support and your enjoyment of my story! stay tuned on my page for a new story coming soon! it's gonna be epic and have lots of whump so don't miss out! :)


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